Book-holder.



No. 659,254. Patented Oct. 9, I900.

E. C. PASAL. BOOK HOLDER.

(Application filed June 27, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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NITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD CARL PASAL, on URBANA, ILLINOIS.

BOOK-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 659,254. dated October9, 1900.

Application filed June 27, 1900. serial No. 21,835. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD CARL PASAL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Um. bana, in the county of Champaign and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Book-Holder, of which the following is aspeci fication.

This invention relates to holders or supports for books in general, andmore particularly for heavy books, such as dictionaries, records, &c.,the object of the invention being to providea construction wherein thebook will be supported with the exposed pages when opened in asubstantially horizontal plane and wherein also the book willautomatically adjust the holder to the proper position.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in both views, Figure1 is a perspective view showing the complete holder with the bookremoved therefrom. ,Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the holder,showing the position of the book in dotted lines.

Referring now to the drawings, the holder of the present inventionconsists of a base 5, upon which is fixed a rectangular frame includingend pieces 6 and 7 and side pieces 8 and 9, the end pieces being cutaway at their lower edges adjacent the base to permit insertion of thefingers when the holder is to be moved from place toplace, the endpieces of the frame thus forming in effect handles.

Pivoted to the inner faces of the sides 8 and 9 of the supporting-frameare rockers or links 10 and 11, the pivots of the links being disposedmidway of the ends of the links, and at each side of each of the links10 and 11 is pivoted a link 12, the links 12 being pivoted at theirends, as shown. The book is supported directly by boards or plates 13and 14, the board or plate 13 having one edge disposed betweencorresponding ends of links 10 and 11, to which it is pivoted, while theopposite edge of the plate is pivoted to the otherwise free ends ofcorresponding links 12, it being understood that the links 12 areequidistant from their corresponding links 10 and 11. The plate 14 hasone edge disposed between the ends of links 10 and 11 opposite to theattachment of board 13 and is pivoted thereto, the opposite edge of theboard 14 being disposed between and pivoted to the corresponding links12. The links 12 are of equal length and are so disposed with respect tothe remaining portions of the device that when the boards 13 and 14. arebrought to lie in a horizontal plane the links 12 at opposite ends ofthe frame will diverge upwardly, while when the boards are adjusted tocause the links 10 and 11 to stand vertical the links 12 will convergeupwardly.

In order to protect the bind of a book upon the holder, a continuouspiece of fabric 13 is attached at one edge to the outer edge of theboard 13 and is taken across both boards and attached to the outer edgeof the board 14:, thus covering the interspace between the inner edgesof the boards and hiding the interior of the frame.

The operation of the support is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings.'A book is placed upon one of the boards 13 or 14 in such position thatwhen opened the leaves will lie upon the opposite board, as shown indotted lines. As the weight of the leaves that are turned is contributedto the second board the second board is depressed to an extent and thefirst board rises correspondingly, with the result that the exposedpages of the book lie substantially in the same plane. If the book isclosed, that board which then supports the book sinks and the otherboard rises. In this manner the device is automatic in its adjustment,and wherever the book may be opened the pages will be held in properposition.

It will of course be understood that in practice various modificationsof the specific construction shown may be made and that any suitablematerials and proportions may be used for the various parts thereofWithout de parting from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. A book-support comprising aframe,-oppositely-disposed straight links pivoted between their ends tothe frame, supportingthe links, and additional links of equal lengthseach of which is pivoted at one end to the frame and is pivoted at itsopposite end to a supporting-board, whereby the outer edges of theboards will lie at all times in boards pivoted to the corresponding endsof IOO posed transversely of both boards and attached at itsopposite-end to the outer edge of the second hoard, whereby the outeredges of the boards will lie at. all times in common horizontal planeswhile the two boards lie at an angle to each other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence ofltwo witnesses.

EDWARD CARL PASAL.

Witnesses:

J. W. HAYS, GEORGE R. SHAWHAN.

